Roxithromycin and rhEGF Co-loaded Reactive Oxygen Species Responsive Nanoparticles for Accelerating Wound Healing.

Bacterial infection can delay wound healing and is therefore a major threat to public health. Although various strategies have been developed to treat bacterial infections, antibiotics remain the best option to combat infections. The inclusion of growth factors in the treatment approach can also accelerate wound healing. The co-delivery of antibiotics and growth factors for the combined treatment of wounds needs further investigation. Here we aimed to develop antibiotic and growth factor co-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) to treat Staphylococcus aureus-infected wounds. By using our previously prepared reactive oxygen species-responsive material (Oxi-αCD), roxithromycin (ROX)-loaded NPs (ROX/Oxi-αCD NPs) and recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF)/ROX co-loaded NPs (rhEGF/ROX/Oxi-αCD NPs) were successfully fabricated. The in vivo efficacy of this prepared nanomedicine was evaluated in mice with S. aureus-infected wounds. ROX/Oxi-αCD NPs and rhEGF/ROX/Oxi-αCD NPs had a spherical structure and their particle sizes were 164 ± 5 nm and 190 ± 8 nm, respectively. The in vitro antibacterial experiments showed that ROX/Oxi-αCD NPs had a lower minimum inhibitory concentration than ROX. The in vivo animal experiments demonstrated that rhEGF/ROX/Oxi-αCD NPs could significantly accelerate the healing of S. aureus-infected wounds as compared to the free ROX drug and ROX/Oxi-αCD NPs (P < 0.05). ROX and rhEGF co-loaded NPs can effectively eliminate bacteria in wounds and accelerate wound healing. Our present work could provide a new strategy to combat bacteria-infected wounds.

Ding J ，Chen D ，Hu J ，Zhang D ，Gou Y ，Wu Y ... -  《-》

Targeted delivery of antibiotics to the infected pulmonary tissues using ROS-responsive nanoparticles.

Wang Y ，Yuan Q ，Feng W ，Pu W ，Ding J ，Zhang H ，Li X ，Yang B ，Dai Q ，Cheng L ，Wang J ，Sun F ，Zhang D ... -  《JOURNAL OF NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY》

Reactive oxygen species-responsive dexamethasone-loaded nanoparticles for targeted treatment of rheumatoid arthritis via suppressing the iRhom2/TNF-α/BAFF signaling pathway.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease that results in synovitis, cartilage destruction, and even loss of joint function. The frequent and long-term administration of anti-rheumatic drugs often leads to obvious adverse effects and patient non-compliance. Therefore, to specifically deliver dexamethasone (Dex) to inflamed joints and reduce the administration frequency of Dex, we developed Dex-loaded reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive nanoparticles (Dex/Oxi-αCD NPs) and folic acid (FA) modified Dex/Oxi-αCD NPs (Dex/FA-Oxi-αCD NPs) and validated their anti-inflammatory effect in vitro and in vivo. In vitro study demonstrated that these NPs can be effectively internalized by activated macrophages and the released Dex from NPs significantly downregulated the expression of iRhom2, TNF-α, and BAFF in activated Raw264.7. In vivo experiments revealed that Dex/Oxi-αCD NPs, especially Dex/FA-Oxi-αCD NPs significantly accumulated at inflamed joints in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice and alleviated the joint swelling and cartilage destruction. Importantly, the expression of iRhom2, TNF-α, and BAFF in the joint was inhibited by intravenous injection of Dex/Oxi-αCD NPs and Dex/FA-Oxi-αCD NPs. Collectively, our data revealed that Dex-loaded ROS-responsive NPs can target inflamed joints and attenuate arthritis, and the 'iRhom2-TNF-α-BAFF' pathway plays an important role in the treatment of RA with the NPs, suggesting that this pathway may be a novel target for RA therapy.

Ni R ，Song G ，Fu X ，Song R ，Li L ，Pu W ，Gao J ，Hu J ，Liu Q ，He F ，Zhang D ，Huang G ... -  《-》

Folic acid-modified ROS-responsive nanoparticles encapsulating luteolin for targeted breast cancer treatment.

Wang Y ，Wang Q ，Feng W ，Yuan Q ，Qi X ，Chen S ，Yao P ，Dai Q ，Xia P ，Zhang D ，Sun F ... -  《-》

A novel strategy for the treatment of chronic wounds based on the topical administration of rhEGF-loaded lipid nanoparticles: In vitro bioactivity and in vivo effectiveness in healing-impaired db/db mice.

Lipid nanoparticles are currently receiving increasing interest because they permit the topical administration of proteins, such as recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF), in a sustained and effective manner. Because chronic wounds have become a major healthcare burden, the topical administration of rhEGF-loaded lipid nanoparticles, namely solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carries (NLC), appears to be an interesting and suitable strategy for the treatment of chronic wounds. Both rhEGF-loaded lipid nanoparticles were prepared through the emulsification-ultrasonication method; however, the NLC-rhEGF preparation did not require the use of any organic solvents. The characterisation of the nanoparticles (NP) revealed that the encapsulation efficiency (EE) of NLC-rhEGF was significantly greater than obtained with SLN-rhEGF. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that gamma sterilisation is a suitable process for the final sterilisation because no loss in activity was observed after the sterilisation process. In addition, the proliferation assays revealed that the bioactivity of the nanoformulations was even higher than that of free rhEGF. Finally, the effectiveness of the rhEGF-loaded lipid nanoparticles was assayed in a full-thickness wound model in db/db mice. The data demonstrated that four topical administrations of SLN-rhEGF and NLC-rhEGF significantly improved healing in terms of wound closure, restoration of the inflammatory process, and re-epithelisation grade. In addition, the data did not reveal any differences in the in vivo effectiveness between the different rhEGF-loaded lipid nanoparticles. Overall, these findings demonstrate the promising potential of rhEGF-loaded lipid nanoparticles, particularly NLC-rhEGF, for the promotion of faster and more effective healing and suggest their future application for the treatment of chronic wounds.

Gainza G ，Pastor M ，Aguirre JJ ，Villullas S ，Pedraz JL ，Hernandez RM ，Igartua M ... -  《-》